Martin Rundkvist (born 4 April 1972) is a Swedish archaeologist who focuses on the Bronze, Iron, and Middle Ages of Scandinavia. He has excavated various sites in Sweden. In a 2011 book, he identified nine possible regional power centres in Östergötland, and attempted to determine where the "Beowulfian mead halls" of the day once stood. Years later at one of these sites, Aska, he uncovered the foundations of a large mead hall, and 22 ornate gold figures that may have represented gods or royals. Rundkvist has also catalogued the finds from Barshalder, the largest prehistoric cemetery on Sweden's Gotland island; excavated the boat grave of a Viking; and analysed both the placement of deposited artefacts in the landscape and the lifestyles of élite Scandinavians during the Middle Ages. Rundkvist authors the blog Aardvarchaeology, which the James Randi Educational Foundation termed "the most-read archaeology blog on the Internet". He is an associate professor at the University of Łódź in Poland.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Rundkvist

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1873:

The Kennel Club, the world's oldest kennel club, was founded in the United Kingdom after Sewallis Shirley became frustrated by trying to organise dog shows without a consistent set of rules. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kennel_Club

1905:

An earthquake hit the Kangra Valley in India, killing more than 20,000 people and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj, and Dharamshala. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_Kangra_earthquake

1949:

Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing NATO, an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO

1968:

American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sensical: That makes sense; showing internal logic; rational, sensible. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sensical

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past. However, the icy winds of war, which bring only death, destruction and hatred in their wake, have swept down powerfully upon the lives of many people and affected us all. Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, whereas ordinary people sense the need to build a future that, will either be shared, or not be at all. Now in the night of the war that is fallen upon humanity, please, let us not allow the dream of peace to fade!   --Pope Francis https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Francis